It sounds to me like it would potentially be like a stock split -- beneficial to the people currently holding coins, plus stimulating to the market. (Remember too that the market cap hasn't changed, and a lot of people have invested big in Bitcoin, so they are unlikely to take their own assets down)

I would like to put two items into your Suggestion Bin then.

First -- The system serves people, not the other way around, so people are first. If there are problems, glitches, crashes, overloads, server changes, whatever, the FIRST thing that should happen is that you put a notice up on the site itself. And keep people updated and informed -- also on the site itself.  This would also save YOUR time and energy, responding to the same concerns over and over and over and over.

Second -- It appears that you have bitten off more than you can chew. The idea of walking into CVS or Walmart with cash and getting a Bitcoin from that within the hour is GENIUS. But I would say that you are not ready for primetime yet. Trying to handle all these emergencies, and fill or straighten out orders one by one, is clearly a pain for you, but it also does not create confidence in your customer base. And confidence is the REAL coin of the realm, wouldn't you say?  Why not scale down and grow the business instead? Then, as different features come on line they can be tested, you'll get feedback, etc. And feature by feature your service will grow -- plus grow the confidence it needs to thrive.

After spending the weekend learning about the wallets, exchanges, and how to fund them.... I opted to go with Coinbase, a small company that is gradually adding excellent consumer features, but only after a lot of testing, and under a limit of no more than 50 BTC traded per day. Once they get the whole system humming, they can open up in whatever other ways they want. But I love that I could just link my bank account and not have to mess with the whole anti-PayPal, anti-Visa nonsense.  Cash at CVS would have been my REAL preference, but since it's not ready for primetime I have no need to mess with it. I simply moved on to a system that worked.

In short, if you're stressed, part of it's your responsibility for claiming to do more than you actually can.
I hope you will pass these suggestions on to whoever cares about them.
Thanks!

It doesn't work. I wrote about this on page 160 of this thread. No confirmations are coming up on BitInstant itself. There are also no confirming emails. I also wrote to BitInstant support twice and received no response. There's some kind of glitch, and obviously poor URSAY is running as fast as he can on the hamster wheel behind the system.... But it doesn't help much if the system itself isn't functioning.

Really? How so?

Hello -- Newbie here. I'm wondering about Bitcoin's barriers to entry and how they might possibly be being used to help jack up the price. Are there any other newbies here wondering the same thing?

I've been curious about Bitcoin for awhile, but decided to plunge in a couple of days ago, give it some attention, sign up with exchanges, and see if I could buy my first coin.

Signing up with BitStamp and MtGox were relatively easy although my goodness, I'm surprised MtGox doesn't also want you to send them fingernail clippings....  I also got a computer wallet and one for my Android phone.  I've read all the security cautions and I'm super cautious anyway so everything seemed to be falling into place.

But then I wanted to fund my exchange accounts with US Dollars.  I've been looping around since Friday simply trying to figure out how to transfer enough money to buy one Bitcoin.  I understand about the chargeback concerns with PayPal and Visa, but I could also easily link a bank account or authorize an ACH transfer.  The problem with bank wires is that they cost $25-35 and that is much too high of a premium when the goal is to buy just one Bitcoin.  Escrow.com also charges a minimum of $25 to perform an escrow function.

Obviously an intermediary is the way to go -- someone who takes PayPal, Visa, cash, or who links to bank accounts, but also someone who the exchanges trust to relay the money when the coin is released.

BitInstant looks like a fantastic IDEA -- but after three days of trying to enter a cash transfer (CVS is just across the street from me, I can easily walk there with a deposit ticket and give cash), I have had no success. Their system just keeps booting me back to an empty transaction page and I get no confirming email, no deposit slip, nothing.  On this forum I then discovered that they're buried and that some people are waiting weeks for their transaction requests to be processed.  Hello, BitInstant -- perhaps your website should not promise a one-hour turnaround if your system is not actually ready???

I also looked at Dwolla which looked really promising -- until it asked for my Social Security number. I'm sorry, I simply don't enter that online, ever. The damage would be too great if it ever got loose. At least with a credit card you can cancel it. A social security number is attached to you for your whole life and the harm compromising it would produce would be lifelong.

Coinbase looks promising, they are local too. They *do* connect to bank accounts, but it's currently unclear to me if users are required to keep their Bitcoins in their Coinbase online wallet or whether a Bitcoin-to-email option is available.

Anyway, back to the primary question -- about barriers to entry.  Consider -- on Amazon and eBay a seller can set up a policy that says "no refunds" and even if the payment is made using PayPal or Visa, no refund will be given.  It does not actually seem that difficult to simply set a policy of no refunds and go ahead and accept PayPal or Visa. Am I wrong?

Barriers to entry would actually serve the purposes of people wanting the price to rise.... And when ease of access is established it would seem to me that the price would go down.  From a strictly incentive perspective, maybe newcomers are not all that wanted. I, and my money, certainly don't feel wanted with how much trouble and extra expense there is to simply buy one Bitcoin.

Hello -- I've been trying to use BitInstant for the last two days now, without luck.  I am trying to do:

Cash(CVS) --> BitStamp, or
Cash(CVS) --> MtGox

I put in all my data on the transaction page and when I hit "Send Funds" it just shoots me back to a new, empty transaction page. I get no details, no deposit ticket, and I don't receive an email.  This can't be correct.

I have Java, JavaScript, and plugins all turned on.
My OS is Windows 7 and I've tried Chrome and IE.
I've also tried entering these questions into the "Contact us for support" option on the site, but have not received an answer.  It's only by luck that I found this support thread here.

Am I missing something?

Thank you.